[suzi89]

hi all
i want to build workstation for ansys fluent and mechanical to run two-way FSI analysis
my budget is around 1000 ~2000$
i plan to run fsi with mesh sizes 200k to maximum 2m, 400-600 iterations each run and total time about 1 s
solver time and generate mesh time is important.
Which system would enough for my purpose?
Could you please help me and share your recommendations?
I have unlimited license.
tnx a lot
some options (used cases) in my city:
-z10pe,2*2650v4 24c,1070ti,64gb ram….2000$
-2*2690v3 24c,128gb ram,m4000……2200$

list edited

[suzi89]

any suggestion....

[flotus1]

Too many options to choose from...
What you are looking for should definitely be dual-socket. So anything X99 can be crossed off that list.
You don't need a lot of GPU horsepower, so spending more on a system with an expensive graphics card would not be a good use of your money.
Other than that, you decide how much you want to spend. The differences in performance between Intel Xeon E5 gen1-4 are small, but they add up. The fastest systems in your list will be 2*2650v4 and 2*2690v3. I would probably avoid the first generation, because the price to performance ratio of these systems in your list is not the best. 1400$ for two E5-2670 is way too much, the CPUs are worth less than 50$ these days.

[suzi89]

thank you very much alex!
z10pe,2*2650v4 ,1070ti,64gb ram
2*2690v3 ,128gb ram,m4000
these two configs you advise me are about 2000$ in my country
but i can change their gpus and memories to get cheaper....
in my situation should i have 64Gb ram or 32Gb is enough? ecc or non ecc important?and dual or quad? (next config)
by this budget (2000$) i can get 2950x,3900x,skylake x 10-14cores medels but waste ecc and more cores.
otherwise gain more clock freq and memory speed... you prefer xeon dual socket at all?

[flotus1]

You don't need a lot of memory for these low cell counts, 64GB would definitely be enough, probably even 32GB. Just not 100% sure about the structure part of the simulation, I have seen FEM codes that use very high amounts of RAM per cell. But you need to fill every memory channel with at least one DIMM. On dual-socket 2011(-v3), that means 8 DIMMs.
ECC is not mandatory, but you have to use whatever memory is compatible with the platform you use. On these server platforms, UDIMM does not always work. So better use RDIMM, which should come with ECC anyway.

by this budget (2000$) i can get 2950x,3900x,skylake x 10-14cores

Doesn't matter, you are better off with 2 CPUs. This doubles the available memory bandwidth, which quickly becomes the limiting factor with these mainstream and HEDT options.

[suzi89]

alex hi..please help me again
i found this config cost about 1700$ but i'm not sure about it
this is used case: azuz z10pe-d8 ws...2650V4 *2 (ES version)..quadro 2000 1GB...64GB ECC...256GB M2,2TB HDD and 1300watt EVGA G2
thing that concern about it , is CPUs...those are ES versions that i'm searching on in google and hearing bad news..people advise dont go for these version, probably maybe they have some errors or issues that shows in heavy loadings..
could you tell me your idea please

[flotus1]

ES CPUs can be all over the place. Anywhere from missing features to being almost identical to retail CPUs. And most of the time, they come with rather low clock speeds. If you don't want to go investigate about steppings, compatible bios versions and whatnot, better stay away from them.
1700$ is too much for this system anyway. It would be hard to justify even with retail CPUs.

[suzi89]

after couple of days searching some shops in my city, i found this final options.. much overpriced,but i don't have any alternative..so i have to increase my budget to 3000$.
final options :
xeon 2650v4 (oem new) 1050$
Xeon 2680v4 (") 1050$
9980XE (new) 2200$
9960X (") 1800$
10940X (") 1600$
7960X(") 1450$
9940X(") 1350$
i also found pre-built supermicro workstation case 2650/2680 V4 dual inside cost around 3000$
finally whats my solution? :/
could you plz share configs with full specification suggestion
thank you for the time you've made for this topic

[flotus1]

I don't quite understand what your new list represents. Are these old MSRP prices for a bunch of random CPUs? Or full systems? With one or two CPUs?

A quick search on ebay yields this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z840-Wor...U/312975584111
On Newegg, you can find it ready to go: https://www.newegg.com/hp-z-series-z...1VK-001E-26S63

[suzi89]

3000$ for full supermicro workstation system with this config:
with 2*2680v4 (oem) or 2*2650v4 (oem) installed
250GB ssd
2GB VGA
64 GB ram ddr4
https://www.supermicro.com/products/system/4U/7048/SYS-7048A-T.cfm

i don't know cpu cooler or power supply in this case is good or not..of course i think does not support m2

should i go for these pre-built system with this price or buy every component part by part manually

[flotus1]

The motherboard in this workstation does not have an m.2 slot. You can still use m.2 NVMe SSDs if you want, you just need an adapter to a PCIe slot.

Since I am increasingly clueless which part of the world you live in, and what the used hardware market might look like, I can't comment on the OEM workstation vs. DIY approach.

[suzi89]

thank you alex ..also there is HP Z and dell T workstation in this country but condition is used and i'm not sure which one is ok or not

[flotus1]

HP and Dell workstations are ok from a hardware point of view. As long as you get 2 CPUs for Socket 2011-3. Meaning Xeon E5 v3 and v4.

[suzi89]

after checking three Hp z devices as used and ref and a Dell T model , and see price/performance of those,i decided to build my workstation myself..may i ask you suggest me some full configs with supermicro or asus motherboards
checked prices of some CPUs in near me:
2695v3 360$
2690v3 290$
2630v4 480$
2680v4 680$

[flotus1]

For each of the components, there is a plethora of candidates.
Since I don't know prices and availability in your region -and these seem to be a serious problem where you live- I can't just recommend you a bunch of components. Maybe the motherboard I recommend is just not available to you, or only at a significantly higher price than an equally valid alternative.
I addition to that, the choice of some components limits the selection of different components. Buy a motherboard with SSI-EEB form factor and narrow-ILM sockets? Now you can't use ATX cases or square-ILM CPU coolers anymore.

So instead, here are some more general pointers.

CPU:
With the prices you listed and your requirements in mind: definitely 2x E5-2690 v3

Motherboard:
Any dual-socket 2011-3 motherboard will do. Just avoid proprietary form factors like Supermicro X10DRW. When you picked one, check the form factor (ATX or SSI-EEB) and the CPU cooler mounting mechanism (square or narrow ILM) and pick case and CPU coolers accordingly.

Power supply:
If you don't go overboard with the graphics card, decent quality power supplies with at least 650W will suffice. Make sure it comes with a second 12V EPS connector for the second CPU, most low-midrange PSUs do not have these.
Don't spend less than around 100$ here, there is a lot of cheap and dangerous crap on the market.

RAM:
8x 8GB DDR4-2133 reg ECC. You can also use 16GB DIMMs if you want and can afford, but 64GB total should be enough for you. Or if your motherboard has 16 DIMM slots, you can also populate them with 16x4GB if that is the cheaper option for you. Anyway, you need at least 8 DIMMs to fill all memory channels.
You need registered memory for compatibility, UDIMMs usually don't work with this kind of CPUs and motherboards. Which is actually a good thing, because older RDIMM can be picked up very cheap.

Graphics card:
Barely matters, you can save money here. But maybe don't go lower than one with 4GB of GDDR5.

Case:
Again, check which motherboard you ended up with, so it can fit inside. ATX boards fit in SSI-EEB compatible cases, but not the other way round.
My go-to option for SSI-EEB is the Phanteks Enthoo Pro.

CPU coolers:
Depends on the exact socket you ended up with. The compatibility king is Noctua NH-D9DX i4 3U, since it fits both square and narrow ILM. And it is rather small, so it will fit into most cases.
Cross-check CPU cooler height with your case, so they can fit inside. Avoid server solutions like Dynatron or Supermicro, they are too loud for workstation usage.

Storage:
Get a 2.5" SATA SSD with at least 256GB for the OS and programs. Or get a larger one if you also want to have your projects on the SSD. Samsung 860 Evo is one of the best budget choices here.
Plus as much HDD storage on 3.5" SATA drives as you need.

[suzi89]

i'm very thankful for sharing this information and actually appreciate the time you spend for forum
i went to shops and prepared this list as attached, the prices of some available items, I'll appreciate if you look at it
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php...63760103111904

[suzi89]

I appreciate your guiding me regarding this

[flotus1]

Motherboard: SM X10DAL-i (more/better placed x16 slots, support for higher TDP CPUs)
PSU: Antec high Current Pro 850W Platinum
GPU: RX 470, the brand doesn't matter. Maybe stay away from a mining card, unless you are familiar with flashing the bios on GPUs.
Case: Since the motherboard is standard ATX, you can pick whatever you like best / want to afford
SSD: at the sizes we are talking about here, it doesn't matter if you pick 2.5" SATA or m.2 PCIe. I'd recommend a 250GB SATA SSD for your OS and programs. If you need fast storage for the rest of your data, you can still add a faster, larger SSD.
CPU coolers: You don't need water cooling, and you don't need a huge air cooler either. I am not sure if the original CoolerMaster Hyper 212 comes with mounting hardware for LGA 2011. There is an additional bracket for the Hyper 212 Evo that makes it compatible with LGA 2011, but it is not included with all revisions of this cooler. However its successor, the Hyper 212X, should be compatible out of the box. And it is small enough that there should be no collision between the 2 coolers
Memory: rank refers to the internal organization of a DIMM, and has nothing to do with channels. It's just that dual-rank DIMMs yield slightly better performance compared to single-rank DIMMs, thanks to rank interleaving. Again: get 8 of the cheapest DDR4-2133 reg ECC modules from Samsung, SK Hynix or Micron. If you can, get dual-rank. I won't recommend any specific modules, because the price is the only thing that really counts here.

[suzi89]

thank you very very much alex
i bought everything in that recommendation list, but only, memory remained
i found 8GB memory hpe and hynix
1- 8GB 1Rx4 reg ecc 2133p sk hynix (hpe 752368) used oem part HMA41GR7AFR4N 35$
2- 8GB 1Rx4 reg ecc 2133 hpe B21-726718 retail pack new 52$

should be careful to buy used?? or buy retail second option?

[suzi89]

guide me plz